BRIDGEPORT -- The laughter had started even before Bassick's Oscar Grizzle and Staples' Austin Alianiello teed off on No. 1 at the Longshore Country Club. When the match began, Alianiello striped his drive right down the middle of the fairway, a good 260-plus. Grizzle, in duffer's language, pushed it to the right.

Over the next couple of hours, Alianiello, who had been playing since he was a little kid, and Grizzle, who's only been playing just over a year and doesn't even have a handicap, hit it off. It didn't matter how many shots Alianiello was going to win by -- that part of the match was never in doubt -- but over those nine holes, something special happened. The competitors became friends. And by the time they reached the ninth green, Alianiello was asking Grizzle for his phone number so they could play golf over the summer.

"That was a lot of fun," Grizzle said. " (Staples) was the best school we played against. They all talked to us a lot. They were all cool."

Over the course of the high school golf season this spring, a scene like that has played itself out over and over again. Darien. New Canaan. Trumbull. Warde. Ludlowe -- name an FCIAC school, any school -- and whenever they play either Bassick, Central or Harding, the result is the same: competition takes a back seat to fun.

"I can tell you that our matches with the Bridgeport kids are the ones that my kids look forward to more than any other during the season," Darien golf coach and FCIAC golf chairman Tom O'Donnell said. "They always talk about how much fun the Bridgeport kids are to play with, how enthusiastic they are about learning how to play golf. Our kids understand that the (match) results will be a foregone conclusion, but they want to do anything they can to help those Bridgeport kids improve and sustain their participation in golf."

There have been golf programs at Bassick, Central and Harding for many, many years, but these days, you'd never know it. There is a constant numbers battle going on, and currently, neither Central nor Harding have enough capable players to field a complete four-player team. In many instances, these kids are picking up a club for the first time and are trying to learn a game they've only occasionally seen on television. Even worse, hardly any of them own their own set of golf clubs. And when they do compete -- using outdated, school-purchased golf clubs -- they're going against FCIAC schools with players who have years of experience on some of the top public and private courses around with some of the best equipment money can buy.

They are not the only ones fighting this battle. In New Haven, Hillhouse, Wilbur Cross and Career Magnet all fielded teams this spring but all struggled to compete in the Southern Connecticut Conference. In Hartford, Bulkeley High and East Hartford have teams, but like their Bridgeport and New Haven counterparts, they struggle in the Central Connecticut Conference. Hartford Public High dropped golf due to budgetary cuts in 2011.

This season, Central has just three golfers on its roster and one who has been playing for only a month. Harding has five, including a girl, but like Central, only two are experienced enough to play competitively. Only Bassick has been able to field a full roster of four, but that's all they have on their squad.

"There are a number of hardships," said Central golf coach John Dailey. "The first is trying to generate interest. I think there's something about being in Bridgeport and playing golf. These kids will come out and play during the season, but then they'll never touch a club during the summer when everyone else is playing. They have a hard time finding rides up here and (playing) cost is a big problem. Just getting exposed to the game is still a big issue. There's lack of exposure and a lack of interest within the schools themselves."

How to help?

So how do the schools -- and especially the board of education -- work to generate more interest in golf?

"I don't really know," said Bassick's Pete Shanazu, who's been coaching golf for the past seven years. "It's hard to say. We need to have some clinics at the (high) schools. Maybe show a kid who's never held a club before and wants to learn something about golf. Something like that would gain momentum (in the school system) and that would make it easier to get more people involved."

"We're going to have the First Tee instructors go to the schools, one day to Bassick, one day to Harding, one day to Bullard-Havens, whatever," he said. "Each week, a school is going to have a `golf' day. We'll bring all the equipment and teach them the sport. Hopefully, that will help the coaches out a lot."

Taylor said that he's also in the process of creating a First Tee "High School" program that will give all the players at Bassick, Central and Harding a "membership" card that would let them play at the Wheel for a greatly reduced rate.

"All our First Tee program kids have membership cards that allow them to play golf here for $8, Monday through Thursday any time and Friday, Saturday and Sunday after 2 o'clock. We're going to give the high school kids these same cards," Taylor said. "We're also going to give these kids golf clubs for free, so hopefully by them getting clubs, it will push them to want to play more golf. Once I got my first set, I wanted to play all the time."

Taylor started playing golf when he was attending Blackham School, thanks to an after-school program created by Bridgeport's former citywide athletic director, Alan Wallach. Because of that, Taylor got to meet Tiger Woods at a 1997 exhibition. Woods offered Taylor a spot at one of his weeklong golf clinics.

That hooked him. Taylor started hitting balls at the Wheel's driving range. He was there so often that he got a job picking the range. As a senior at Bassick, Taylor received an internship and worked at Brooklawn Country Club under club pro Brad Worthington. When the First Tee program was created, Taylor signed up. From a starting point of just 150 kids, the First Tee program at the Wheel now hosts close to 1,600 beginning golfers.

Now, it's time to get the high school golfers involved.

"I'm doing it because I have a lot of resources through the First Tee," Taylor said. "I want to start this (high school) program because I was in the same situation. When we get this started this summer, it's going to allow those kids to come here and have like their own golf camp."

Getting the Bassick, Central and Harding golfers to become more involved through the First Tee is one thing -- a positive thing -- but first they have to get them to the course so they can actually participate.

"They can't get the rides, especially teams like Harding. They're all the way across town," said Central's Dailey. "It's like a 20-minute ride over here. There are a lot of issues."

Just ask Bassick's Grizzle.

"I played the entire golf season, but over the summer, I never picked up a club," he said. "There wasn't any way to get to the course. It kind of set me back so it was like starting over from square one again this spring."

Added Acosta: "Transportation's been a big problem, getting rides from my house to (the Fairchild Wheeler). Hopefully, I'll get over there this summer if I get some transportation. I really want to work on my game."

Taylor says that the First Tee program has started a bus service, funded by General Electric, that picks up kids from all the Lighthouse summer programs and takes them to the golf course.

"The kids come here all summer long," Taylor said. "They get picked up at the Shehan Center, the Burroughs Center, Trumbull Gardens, the Wakeman Boys and Girls Club, the McGivney Center, the YMCA. And whatever the bus charges, GE pays for it. The idea is to get these kids here and sign them up for the First Tee program."

Taylor also said that if the Bassick, Central and Harding kids can get to any of those Lighthouse pick-up sites, they could ride the bus to the course and play. Which would be a huge factor in potentially generating more interest at the high school level and seeing genuine improvement.

Jump-starting a sport

"You have to get help from the community," said Staples golf coach Tom Owen. "I know the First Tee is there at Fairchild Wheeler, and in our case at Longshore, it's great to have the pro behind you and the Men's Golf Association. That's where the help and the involvement has to come from, from outside the school system. Whether it's the course giving free rounds to the kids or free lessons, that's where the help has to come from."

In the case of the Wheel, club pro Steven Roach allows the kids from Bassick, Central and Harding unlimited range balls to practice with.

"I love coming here and working on my game," said Central's Palaez, who started playing when he was in the eighth grade. "I was going to play lacrosse, but I saw that they had a golf team and I felt I had an OK swing, so I decided to try golf and I've stayed with it. I try to play some over the summer but it's difficult to get here. I know I can consistently shoot in the 40s, but when I play, I make dumb mistakes and that puts me off. It's a love/hate relationship."

Alvarez's father works at the Round Hill Country Club in Greenwich, and he started playing with a putter when he was around 6 years old because it was the smallest club his dad could find.

"When I got into high school, I had no dream about playing golf at all, I didn't even know they had a team," Alvarez said. "I'd wanted to play soccer but I had broken my leg the year before, so I wanted to do a sport and I found out about the golf team.

"Golf has its own special type of adrenalin. It's fun. I'm hoping to get a lot better over the next two years. I love to have fun out here."

"It's very gratifying when you teach someone a new skill and you see the baby steps," said Harding's Andrew Grosso. "It's great to see how they want to improve and that they do improve so quickly."

Additional involvement from the board of education, the schools themselves and the local community would only help.

"This is about life skills," Dailey said. "They get to come out and put on a collared shirt, look someone in the eye, shake hands and introduce themselves. They're learning a game they can play the rest of their lives. It's a great opportunity for them. They're developing relationships and friendships with other kids."